Enthusiast III
Explorer I
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- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
I will probably add one more to each side. The cheap ones I threw on there leave a lot to be desired as far as lighting up the perimeter. I will have to do some digging to find a good wide and bright scene light.
Enthusiast III
Enthusiast III
I placed a 17,500 lbs winch under the bed where the spare tire used to reside.
Explorer I
- 4,285
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
Enthusiast III
It’s really nice and a good design-I have been working on my own and found the bed rails are supper flimsy- you may want to tie it into the uprights directly rather than just floating on the plastic rail covers and a sheet metal rolled edge. Just my cheap tonneau cover would bend them and distort them.
Explorer I
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- First Name
- Michael
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- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
PROJECT - "EXTENDED RANGE"
So I usually carry two 5 gallon fuel cans at all times. I do this for a couple reasons. 1 - just in case I run out of fuel, that's obvious. 2 - Living in Wyoming, I learned that it was crucial to be perpared. An example would be sliding off the road in the winter. It could be a couple days before help arrives. So having extra fuel will help keep the heat on.
This system works, but is not convenient to deploy. It requires me to climb into the bed, get the cans out of the toolbox, grab a funnel, then transfer fuel(slowly due to EPA style cans).
So after giving this some thought, I decided that a transfer tank would be an improvement.
I found an endless supply of universal tanks. They all took up a lot of bed space. Also they were around $500.
So I have decided to build one myself.
I bought a sheet of 12ga mild steel. This exceeds the minimum wall thickness by about 50%.
View attachment 125299
Layed out the cut lines and fired up the grinder.
I was going to have a local sheet metal shop make the long bends but they wanted over $300. So I Sliced where th bends needed to be, leaving some material to act as a hinge.
View attachment 125302
So I usually carry two 5 gallon fuel cans at all times. I do this for a couple reasons. 1 - just in case I run out of fuel, that's obvious. 2 - Living in Wyoming, I learned that it was crucial to be perpared. An example would be sliding off the road in the winter. It could be a couple days before help arrives. So having extra fuel will help keep the heat on.
This system works, but is not convenient to deploy. It requires me to climb into the bed, get the cans out of the toolbox, grab a funnel, then transfer fuel(slowly due to EPA style cans).
So after giving this some thought, I decided that a transfer tank would be an improvement.
I found an endless supply of universal tanks. They all took up a lot of bed space. Also they were around $500.
So I have decided to build one myself.
I bought a sheet of 12ga mild steel. This exceeds the minimum wall thickness by about 50%.
View attachment 125299
Layed out the cut lines and fired up the grinder.
I was going to have a local sheet metal shop make the long bends but they wanted over $300. So I Sliced where th bends needed to be, leaving some material to act as a hinge.
View attachment 125302
Last edited:
Explorer I
- 4,285
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
-
3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
Explorer I
- 4,285
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
-
3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
PROJECT - "EXTENDED RANGE"
I am not a huge fan of this time of year. I go to work in the dark, and get home in the dark.
However, I did manage to make a tiny bit of progress. Got the 2 5/8" hole drilled and the threaded fill bung tacked.
View attachment 125554
I am not a huge fan of this time of year. I go to work in the dark, and get home in the dark.
However, I did manage to make a tiny bit of progress. Got the 2 5/8" hole drilled and the threaded fill bung tacked.
View attachment 125554
Explorer I
- 4,285
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
-
3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
PROJECT - "EXTENDED RANGE"
Lots of welding today. Theres about 30' of weld to be made.
View attachment 126114
Lots of welding today. Theres about 30' of weld to be made.
View attachment 126114
Explorer I
- 4,285
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
PROJECT - "EXTENDED RANGE"
Completed all of the welding and drilled the mounting plate for the air compressor and tank.
View attachment 128189
View attachment 128190
Completed all of the welding and drilled the mounting plate for the air compressor and tank.
View attachment 128189
View attachment 128190
Member III
Nice build you have going, I like the full size rigs and interested to see how far you go with the mods. I have a '15 3500 longbox myself that i love but the added wheelbase makes it a bit of a hassle in the woods thats why i picked up the WJ for trails and camping. BTW good choice on the Fox 2.0 shocks, i have them on mine with a BDS radius arm front end and airbags in the rear rides way better than my F250. Anyway nice work and i'm in Kennewick as well if you ever want to try getting a meetup going, looks like there is a few others around the TC area. (added pic of my Ram since this is a full size build thread)
Explorer I
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- Michael
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3030
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Thanks Dustin. Building things is one of my favorite pastimes. I sonetines long for a smaller rig, especially when the trails get tight. I love the Fox 2.0's. I do run airbags in the rear to hold the extra weight and they seem to be OK off road.
I am hoping to do some snow trips this winter. I enjoy Kendall Skyline in the blues. Also plan to do some simple trips to clear lake , rimrock.
Member III
Clear Lake and Rimrock are really nice but can get pretty busy if you try camping too close. Lots of trails up in that area, but i usually head up off of NF-4510 to camp. I'm hoping to head up to Rimrock area this spring/summer and run Bethel ridge. Skyline is also a nice drive, if you take it down towards Jubilee lake and turn east on NF-6415/ Timothy springs rd there is a nice little camp site me and my wife like. From there you can keep going east to some nice areas on the rim above the Grande Ronde river. I've been looking into putting together a loop that covers that but then heads down into Troy, Or, back up into the hills and comes out around Pomeroy. The route would basically circle the Wenaha wilderness area. Here's a couple pics to the east of the Wenaha over looking the grande Ronde... can't see the river much but it's waaaay down in the bottom.
Enthusiast III
Explorer I
- 4,285
- First Name
- Michael
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- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
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- KJ7LYZ
Hey Thanks . I will always vote for building it yourself if you have the desire. I would think there are a ton of options out there for your tundra. Even if they just give you ideas to plagiarize.
Much of the time, materials are one about 20% of the cost of a product.
Explorer I
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- First Name
- Michael
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- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
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- KJ7LYZ
I will look at those NF roads on a map to familarize myself with them.
Most times I like to go out for multiple nights, but there are occasions where just an overnight trip is really easy.
Explorer I
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- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Denniston
- Member #
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3030
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KJ7LYZ
Figured it was a good time to get the rack powder coated. Truck looks weird without the rack on...
View attachment 145700
View attachment 145700
Member III
I really think you should go for the bling factor and have it chrome plated
